4 METHODS IN TEACHING 



when they are real forces, are the strongest influences in a 

 child's life. 



The teacher's place in this scheme of education is most 

 difficult. He should guide many minds in many directions ; 



he should direct the school for the general 

 Guidance 



good of all, and at the same time he should 



discover individual strength and preference, for he is train- 

 ing to secure the best results for the race as well as for the 

 individual. To select reading for a number of young people 

 is no light task. Too often only general interest or amuse- 

 ment is considered, and it is forgotten that these should be 

 but means toward the end, life and progress. It is not 

 sufficient to encourage reading ; sometimes it must be checked. 

 Many pupils read too much instead of too little. Seventh 

 grade boys have been known to draw a library book every 

 other day. Such a condition usually means unwholesome 

 reading and a sieve-like mind. It requires restraint as surely 

 as the sprouting fruit tree needs the pruning knife at the 

 proper season. A child frequently becomes interested in 

 one kind of reading and is prone to refuse all else. An 

 eighth grade boy said that if he had ten dollars to spend 

 for books, he would buy nothing but Henty's stories. This 

 is a perverted taste, for specialization in any subject should 

 be preceded by underlying information on many. General 

 knowledge is imperative for the broad foundation that is 

 most useful for all lines. Moreover, different kinds of 

 reading may open up new possibilities of life work, and 

 may so guide the pupil into a variety of interests, his- 

 tory, travel, science, poems, biography, art, that a breadth 

 of view is acquired that prevents narrowness in later 

 specialization. 



